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Sergei Karasev's card statistics are quite ambivalent: Based on his 49 international matches and compared to the other 17 EURO Referees, he has the 2nd lowest Yellow Card average (which shows that he has a lenient line in most cases), but also the 2nd highest (Direct) Red Card average (which shows that he is consistent and strict when necessary - although maybe 1 or 2 of them were incorrect).

UEFA has recognized the Russian's talent quite early. After many observations by Referee Committee members like Jaap Uilenberg in his UCL debut at Schalke v Montpellier (with this blog's author in the stadium as well), he became part of UEFA's Mentor Programme. His mentor was Manuel Mejuto González of Spain, who himself refereed at EURO 2004 and 2008.

Karasev's team suffers from the absence of the usual Assistant Referee 1 Anton Averianov, who failed the fitness tests at the UEFA course. Nikolay Golubev, a real AR veteran from St Petersburg, replaces him - the 45-year old already officiated at Olympia 2004 and was Valentin Ivanov's Assistant Referee 1 in the legendary "Battle of Nuremberg" at World Cup 2006.

Refereeing Style

Modern. Sergei Karasev is a typical UEFA Referee characterized by a high level of fitness and athleticism, a quite lenient line but a courageous attitude towards crucial decisions that have to be taken. His focus is more on applying the Laws than on managing the game.From my point of view, he is a quite complete referee who just needs more consistency and more constantly good performances.

His sign of recognition. Of course, his bald head. How to distinguish between him and Marciniak? Well, the Polish is always in movement with many small, robotic steps, while the Russian conveys a slightly more athletic, dynamic impression.

Karasev only has small chances to reach more than the group stage. On his best days, he is absolutely capable of using it. For sure, the loss of his first Assistant Referee Anton Averianov could lower the team's chances. It all depends on how they perform in their first match.